By 
JoJo Gomez moved to L.A. the day after she graduated high school, determined to become a professional dancer. She's since danced in live performances with Justin Bieber and performed on TV shows such as The Voice. Five years ago, Gomez started making up her own moves and posting videos to YouTube and Instagram, which led to a career teaching dance and eventually offers to choreograph for A-list pop stars such as Tinashe and the Backstreet Boys. Whether teaching, performing, or dreaming up her next video, Gomez, 23, says she keeps one goal in mind: “I want to change the game.”
When I was growing up in New Jersey, my parents took me to see Broadway shows, which I think are my biggest inspiration. Watching live performances like Chicago and A Chorus Line made me want to dance on Broadway.
By the time I was 11, I had been classically trained in all areas of dance. My parents recognized how serious I was and urged me to get more training, so they signed me up for dance competitions, which opened up a whole new world. They’re basically dance tours that travel around the country and host conventions [and contests] led by faculty instructors who have choreographed for stars like Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Madonna.
I attended a workshop in Atlantic City and competed with other dancers to [join the tour]. It was the best training of my life. I was learning from the best of the best. I won a scholarship to become a “protégé,” which meant I was the official assistant who gets to tour with the convention.
I missed a lot of school because I was traveling basically every weekend, sometimes as far as L.A. and Canada. My teachers gave me homework to go. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. I didn’t ever really like school. I always stood out, whether it was my deconstructed clothes, pink hair, or wild makeup. I am very fearless and unapologetic when it comes to who I am and how I want to portray myself. I never wanted to blend [in]. People didn’t understand me, so they made fun of me.
My parents were really supportive and said as long as I kept my grades up, it didn’t matter if I missed school. I knew I wasn’t going to go to college. I wanted to train to become a professional dancer right after high school.
The day after graduation, in 2011, my parents and I flew out to L.A. We stayed in a hotel for a few weeks, and the first thing we did was look for an agent. We saw an ad for an open call for a talent agency and I went in to audition. The next day, I got a call saying I was signed.
My first professional audition was for the VMAs the year of the Britney Spears tribute, when she won the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award. There were hundreds of dancers there. I wanted the job so bad, so I did the best that I could, hitting every mark as hard as possible and giving everything to my performance. The last group of us had been sitting down for an hour waiting, expecting another audition. Then the choreographer came in and said, “Congratulations, you guys got it. See you in rehearsals tomorrow.”
I ran outside and started bawling my eyes out. The VMAs are a big deal, but dancing in the Britney Spears tribute is like making history. Besides Broadway, Britney is probably my biggest inspiration. Britney was unapologetically and fearlessly herself, and I admired her for it.
After the VMAs, I danced for Justin Bieber on The Voice. I danced on the X-Factor several times. I danced on America’s Got Talent and Radio Disney. Dancers have to fight really hard to make a lot of money. You can make $1,500 to $3,500 per performance, but landing a job requires constant training and auditioning. I was working consistently, but I wasn’t making enough to live on my own without my parents’ help, so I danced at bar mitzvahs and other events for kids.
I spent five years working my ass off. Then my body started to change and I couldn’t get as much consistent work. I’m Latin [and] my natural body type is not skinny. I started working out every single day. I went on a diet but my genetics say I’m going to have a curvy body. I had to constantly remind myself that I’m beautiful, this is the body that I have, and if I didn’t have this body, I wouldn’t be able to dance.
Still, every audition I would go to, they’d say I was talented but I needed to lose weight. I was sick of hearing that all the time. I didn’t work my whole life to go to an audition and get cut because either my butt wasn’t big enough or my stomach wasn’t flat enough. That’s just not what I believe in.
So I stopped auditioning and decided to create my own brand. I felt like I had a bigger purpose than going to an audition every day. I didn’t want to have to fight for a spot anymore, or fight for validation. I knew that I was talented and that I had something to say.
I kept up my training and took classes, and I studied my body and developed my own style, making up choreography every day in my tiny apartment living room or in the dance studio. I took a job teaching dance to kids [at a studio] in Orange County to pay the bills and I loved it. I would leave at 6 a.m. every day to drive down, teach from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., then drive back to North Hollywood and work out my choreography.
You hear a lot of “nos" as a dancer, more than you hear “yes.” When I started transitioning into a choreographer, a lot of people in the industry were saying I was too young to be doing this and that I’d never make it. But I knew if I wanted it, I had to go for it.
In October 2014, I decided to start a YouTube account to post my videos online. I was addicted to watching dance videos on YouTube when I was growing up. Those videos are what made me want to come to L.A. I thought if I posted my routines, maybe someone else would feel inspired. I wasn’t even looking at subscribers or likes. I would choreograph to music that I loved — like Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and Tinashe — and share it.
I started to get really good feedback. Dance studios would reach out to me and ask me to come teach. My following kept growing and friends would tell friends about classes I was teaching. Eventually Millennium Dance Complex asked me to sub for a class. I couldn’t believe it. Millennium is the most iconic dance studio in the world.
My first class, I had five people, [but] Millennium kept inviting me to come and sub. My YouTube channel started growing because I’d film my classes, which were growing in attendance by the day. After a year, they were selling out.
My videos started going viral after I started working with my friend Tim Milgram, who is one of the best directors in the dance industry. We met early on when I started taking classes at Millennium. He gives me great career advice and pushes me to evolve. He has a lot of followers, so having him shoot [and share] my videos was an opportunity to be seen by media like Billboard and a lot of artists.
The first music video I booked because of social media was Red Fu’s “New Thang,” which I didn’t choreograph, but I was one of the featured dancers. Then on Thanksgiving last year, I got a call from someone who said he was Tinashe’s manager. His message said, “Hey, we found you on Instagram and we’d love to collaborate with you.” I thought it was one of my friends prank-calling me. After listening to the voice mail 30 more times, I found his name on Instagram and checked to see if Tinashe followed him, and she did. I gave him a call back and he said that Tinashe had seen my choreography for [her songs] “Super Love,” and “Party Favors,” and wanted to work with me. I flew back to L.A. the next day and started rehearsals for the music video for Tinashe’s “Company.”
The minute I booked the job, I already had a vision in my head. I studied Tinashe’s movements and I pretended I was her when I started choreographing on the plane ride home. People were looking at me like I was crazy.
I wasn’t sure what Tinashe was going to like, but we clicked right away. We’re very close in age, so we just vibed as sisters. It was so easy working with her because she’s a dancer. I fed off of her vision and we just matched. She’s weird and I’m weird; she’s sexy and I’m sexy. The job went by so quickly it was like it never even happened.
Seeing the finished video was a dream come true. As a dancer working in L.A. for seven years, I had to fight to be seen. Then I was given the opportunity to work with a dream artist, and that’s very humbling, especially for someone my age. It was a life-changing moment. I cried for days.
Tinashe and I stayed in contact and maintained a friendship. I just finished the choreography for her video “Flame.” Earlier this year when she was invited to perform at the Staples Center as part of an ACLU fundraiser, I choreographed her part of the show and got to perform with her. It was so exciting to be on such a big stage.
My schedule revolves around stretching, working out, and keeping my body strong and balanced. Usually I’ll wake up early and take yoga at around 9 a.m. Then sometimes I’ll go to the gym. I teach private lessons with my students every day. Then I teach a class at Millennium or IDA Hollywood, another dance studio. Then, after that, I usually take another yoga class and then I go home and practice my next routine. I eat in between all those things. Usually after brainstorming and creating another routine at night, I take an Epsom salt bath, climb into bed, and watch Netflix. I have a wonderful boyfriend and friends. I’ve learned to chill.
I still tour with dance conventions and teach on tour. But when I book a video or something else, I have to drop everything. It’s hard letting people down, but everyone understands that if a dancer books a music video or a live show, it’s a huge deal.
I post new videos and tutorials as often as I can, which can be a lot of pressure. I’m not the type of person who’s always on my phone but I know my social media is my résumé. I book most of my work through social media. I recently got a job choreographing [a routine] for the Backstreet Boys show in Las Vegas after the director of the show found me on Instagram.
I don’t know what my future holds, but I just want to keep inspiring people along the way and lifting others up with my passion. Maybe that means I open up a dance studio, or start my own convention, or I’m a choreographer for life. I would love to keep working on tours and being a creative director. I like to be in charge.
Get That Life is a weekly series that reveals how successful, talented, creative women got to where they are now. Check back each Monday for the latest interview.
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